US President Joe Biden plans to “adjust” relations with Saudi Arabia and will not communicate directly with Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman; while his first call to the Middle East since coming to power will be with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
That said the White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who also indicated that It will be “a few months” before Biden receives an international leader in Washington, because of precautions related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are going to adjust our relationship with Saudi Arabia,” Psaki said during his daily press conference.
Asked when Biden will speak to the Saudi Crown Prince over the phone, Psaki replied the new president plans to re-manage international relations by speaking to “his counterpart” in each country.
“(In the case of Saudi Arabia) the president’s counterpart is King Salman (bin Abdelaziz), and I expect (Biden) to have a conversation with him at the right time,” the spokeswoman explained.
That presupposes a remarkable change from the administration of former President Donald Trump, who used to speak with the Saudi Crown Prince, very close to his son-in-law Jared Kushner, rather than the country’s head of state.
“Saudi Arabia is in a position to defend itself against threats from the region. They have critical self-defense needs and we will continue to work with them in that regard, but we will also clarify our disagreements and concerns, and that is a change of them to the previous government, “Psaki confirmed.
Since then, the relationship between the government of Biden and Riyadh has started with some tension the new president no longer supports the Arab coalition’s military operations against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, led by Saudi Arabia.
In addition, Biden has removed the Houthi rebels from his list of terrorist groups, which Trump included insurgents linked to Iran in power during his last days.
Another country with which Trump has maximally strengthened relations and which has felt a cold wind with Biden’s arrival in power is Israel, whose prime minister, Netanyahu, has not yet received a call from the new president.
Psaki tried on Tuesday to address concerns raised in certain sectors of Washington by the fact that Biden has not yet called the Israeli leader, who called Trump two days after he took power, but who has a strikingly cold relationship. maintained with the latest US. Democratic President Barack Obama (2009-2017).
“His first call to a leader in the region will be with Prime Minister Netanyahu. It will be shortly.”Psaki assured, without elaborating.
The spokeswoman added that “Israel is, of course, an ally” of the United States, despite being virtually Washington’s only prominent international partner with whom Biden has not yet contacted.
Biden has been dealing with Netanyahu for decades, first as a Senator and then as Vice President, but his willingness to reintegrate the United States into the nuclear deal with Iran and seek a more balanced relationship with the Palestinians promises him his Government ties with Israel.